Mumbai: The movie Dil Se was released in 1998. As of 2025, it has been 27 years since its release. The film is known for its music, especially the famous train song Chaiyya Chaiyya. This song, with Shah Rukh Khan dancing on a moving train along with Malaika Arora, became a huge hit. The energy, beats, and lyrics made it unforgettable.
Chaiyya Chaiyya became popular worldwide. In a 2002 BBC poll, people from 155 countries voted it as one of the best songs of all time. It ranked 9th out of over 7,000 songs.
The Sufi Connection
Many Bollywood songs take ideas from old poetry, and Chaiyya Chaiyya is one of them. The song comes from the writings of Bulleh Shah, a famous Punjabi Sufi poet from the 17th century.
The lyrics of Chaiyya Chaiyya come from Bulleh Shah’s folk song Tere Ishq Nachaya, Kar Ke Thaiyya Thaiyya, which means Your love made me dance with joy.
How the Song Chaiyya Chaiyya Was Created
Singer Sukhwinder Singh introduced Thaiyya Thaiyya to A.R. Rahman, who wanted a Punjabi devotional song for Dil Se. Lyricist Gulzar then rewrote it into Chaiyya Chaiyya. The Tamil version of the song kept the original title, Thaiyya Thaiyya.
Bulleh Shah’s Influence in Bollywood
Bulleh Shah’s poetry has inspired many Bollywood songs like Bulleya from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Ranjha Ranjha from Raavan. His words connect people across time and cultures.
